21/12/2025
๐๐จ๐ฐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐
๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ค๐ฒ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ฌ โจ
As the UP Chapel marks its 70th anniversary on December 20, 2025, its story reveals how a small but daring project helped shape the Philippinesโ modern skyline. According to Engr. David M. Consunjiโs memoir ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ ๐๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐, the chapelโs construction became an unexpected turning point in the rise of high-rise buildings in the country.
Built by the then-young firm DM Consunji, Inc. (DMCI), the Church of the Holy Sacrifice was initiated by Fr. John P. Delaney, S.J., the first chaplain of the UP Diliman Catholic community. The chapel stood out for its radical design by a young Leandro Locsin, who transformed Fr. Delaneyโs idea of a circular, open church into the now-iconic concrete dome.
Structurally, the project pushed boundaries. Engineered by Alfredo L. Juinio, former dean of the UP College of Engineering, the chapel required a beamless concrete dome that appeared to float on slender columns. Achieving this meant using 3,000 psi concreteโfar stronger than what was standard in the Philippines at the time.
Engr. Consunji recalled that most builders then used only 1,500 psi concrete, while a few reached 2,400 psi. Moving to 3,000 psi was considered risky, but he believed it was possible and necessary. With Juinioโs encouragement and expertise, DMCI successfully produced and used high-strength concrete, proving that local builders could match international standards.
The chapelโs completion coincided with the early development of Makati as a business center. With new confidence and technical know-how gained from the UP Chapel, DMCI soon began working with Ayala, starting with infrastructure projects and later moving on to buildings. This partnership brought together Consunji, architect Leandro Locsin, and engineer Juinioโa team well prepared to pioneer high-rise construction.
Their collaboration led to the Monterey Apartments on Ayala Avenue, completed in 1959. At seven storeys, it was made possible by the same high-strength concrete first tested at the UP Chapel. Its modern featuresโflat slabs, slimmer columns, and cantilevered balconiesโsignaled a new era in Philippine construction.
Soon after, DMCI also built the 12-storey Picache Building in Quiapo in 1960, considered the countryโs first modern skyscraper. Like the Monterey, it relied on concrete innovations proven years earlier at the UP Chapel.
When the Monterey Apartments were demolished in 1988 to make way for a 43-storey tower, Engr. Consunji reflected on how far Makati had comeโfrom an empty plain to a skyline filled with high-rises. He credited the technical breakthroughs of the UP Chapel for making decades of skyscraper construction possible.
By the late 20th century, concrete technology had advanced even further, with Filipino builders using up to 10,000 psi concrete. Yet the roots of that progress traced back to the UP Chapel.
Seventy years on, the UP Chapel endures not only as a place of worship and architectural elegance, but also as a quiet pioneer. Its construction introduced innovations that reshaped Philippine building practices and helped make Makatiโand the modern Philippine skylineโa reality.
๐คโจ
